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When I arrived in my Bishkek hostel (Kirghizstan), I was really wondering what I was doing there. There was no other traveller in the dorm and I got a bit anxious. Though, I had no choice but moving my ass. So I got over my fears, started to explore the place, and I had a wonderful time.
You know, sometimes, when you read guide books or embassies advices, you get the feeling that police officers will screw you, that food is gonna be rotten, and that Muslims will stone you, etc. etc. And of course nothing happens.

Flying from Kuala Lumpur to Kota Bharu, I suddenly realized I was flying Malaysian Airlines, just after the MH370 had vanished. I couldn’t help it but think about it, so I was glad when we finally landed.
On the other hand, after flying Uzbekistan Airlines on my way back from the Aral Sea, I found out that this company was having a record rate of fatal accidents. This is, finally, the only dangerous situation I really got into, without even knowing it.
Overall, I was very cautious in every decision I made because I didn’t want my trip to end prematurely, for a broken knee or whatever.

Any tip to be able to face all the different situations you’ve experienced ?

1. Observation. When you don’t speak a language, watch what others do and be flexible.
2. Be savvy, resourceful. An example? I used to dry my underwear with my external hard drive which was always getting too hot 🙂

Frankly, not really. I knew, more or less, what I would face, what it would take.
Though, two traits of mind surprised me.
First. I haven’t be able to forget my ‘’real’’ life and always kept in mind that I’d need to come back.
Secondly. On the other hand I’ve been able to give up on planning. Actually, I didn’t feel the need to plan the day or the week to come. The only thing I needed to think ahead was the length on y stay in a country because you need a return ticket when you enter a country.

That everything is possible. The world is an open playground, and I feel capable of doing basically anything. Sky is the limit.
I’ve been able to find my way in Russia where nobody speaks English or where there is nobody at all (Perm), to ride a Royal Enfield in Rajasthan, to get our of mud tracks with a damned scooter in South Java, to deal with unfriendly airport officers in Bangladesh, to explore Central Asia on my own in places where nobody goes…
I feel that I can try everything, go everywhere.

I wouldn’t say that. Finding the energy to move forward when my traveling companions were leaving was always a challenge. The only challenge actually. And, in that respect, receiving all kind of messages from my friends, through the blog and beyond the blog, has been decisive. I will never thank you enough guys !
I’ve been extremely surprised by the interactions triggered by my blog. All my friends, and beyond, have exchanged with me through this platform. Even though I’ve been away for a year, I’m closer to my folks now than I was before.

Not really. I didn’t miss my daily routine, my job or my apartment. I didn’t miss Paris, its traffic jam, pollution and aggressiveness… I only missed my folks, very much ! And my grandparents, I would have liked to share this experience with them, make them thrill one last time. Anyway. So, no, I didn’t miss Paris much, but I’m definitely very happy to be with my parents, friends and colleagues again.

Ah ah !
I’d like to take the Rallye des Gazelles Race- An orientation race in the morocco desert.
I’d like to take a boat license to be able to drive a barge across the European channels.
I’d like to ride a motorbike through the Pan-American road, from Ushuaia to Canada…I’d like to cruise in Polynesia like Cook or London, from Papua-Guinea to Chile…
I’d like to take my family to the moon…
There are so many of them that finally, the main challenge is gonna be to meet them all before I’m on a wheel chair… Though, I even think I will, then, organize wheel chairs competitions, that would make the end of our lives less depressing, don’t you think?

I don’t think so.
First of all, over the summer period, I will publish several portfolios, featuring my best pictures around different themes.
And then we will see… I have a couple of ideas, stay tuned!

When we left you six months ago (see Mid-year interview), you were about to fly to Oceania. Within five months, you’ve been through Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Kirghizstan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Israel… Tell us what you’ve liked the most, disliked, etc.

Difficult to say, there have been far too many. All landscapes were beyond imagination, both in Oceania and Central Asia. The places that really moved me are the Whitsundays in Australia, where I got an amazing feeling of freedom, the Rotorua Lake in New Zealand for the birds life and light there was that day on the shore, the Aral Sea desolation in Uzbekistan…

Registan square, in Samarkand. We started the day with insignificant monuments – I mean, not bad but nothing special – and the guide was progressively bringing us to places that were better and better. The last one was that big square surrounded with Madrasas (koranic schools). I couldn’t retain a “waouh” and I saw it, and spent quite some time observing it from the boulevard before finally walk through the square. Pictures convey the beauty, but it’s more than that. It’s an eternal majesty. It felt like time had frozen and I was there. I could have photographed every square centimeter of the place. I didn’t listen to anything the guide told us, I was trying to eat the mosaics with my eyes, to be able to remember it for as long as I can.

Really, food hasn’t been my priority. For budget reasons, I’ve mainly bought food in the street, or basic ingredients in supermarkets when my hostels where having kitchens. This being said, I was going to restaurants a few times a month and what I will remember for sure in New Zealand meat. We had a couple of steaks in Queenstown which were unbelievably tasty, and cheap!

The most interesting fauna and flora (part 1: bird reserve in Korea) ?

The Great barrier reef, definitely. I had to retain myself not to talk about fishes every day in the blog. It has really been a great discovery and will take diving lessons as soon as I can. There were so many fish and coral species there. And after a while, when you are able to identify them, it becomes even more exciting. And you follow fishes, you witness different plots – Though it’s always about one fish escaping another, haha. I hope I will be able to take PADDI classes in Moalboal, in the Philippines, where the sea life is interesting and lessons cheaper than in the developed world…

Traveling through along Australia’s East Coast has been an unbelievable experience. It was the people’s kindness and coolness, the landscape’s beauty, the way I was traveling (getting on and off the greyhound whenever I wanted), the many interesting travelers I met… Overall an amazing felling of freedom.
I especially remember two moments. One when I was walking barefoot on a Whitsundays island, following birds and mantas. We could have been in whatever century, it was so wild… And the second time, I was on the bus, on y way to Brisbane, I think. I had left a traveller with whom I had spent the last week, and I was about to meet my Sydney friends. No boundaries. I was walking towards my destiny. Free as a bird… I’ll never forget it.

The most challenging experience (part 1: riding a motorbike in India)?

Parasailing in Queenstown, New Zealand, was definitely a challenge !!! Thanks to my brother, I had to leave my comfort zone for a moment, and I don’t regret it. I just regret I wasn’t more relax, because I would have enjoyed the view even more. This view was unbelievable. I’ll do it again, that for sure !!!

I think I’m not gonna surprise you much if I talk about the Tash-Rabat caravenserai, in Kirghizistan. My emotion was palpable on the videos, wasn’t it ? First of all because I had dreamt about that place for so many years. Not precisely this caravanserai but those boarders. This knot of boarders where China, Kirghizistan and Uzbekistan meet, in the Xian Chan mountains, Les Monts Célestes by Ella Maillart…
Then, beyond my own mythology, the place was really incredible, with people living in another century, a little bit like Mongolia (where I went on a trek ten years ago).
And then, cherry on the cake, being host by a nomad, in her trailer? No kidding ?! This was just… Beyond words.

Malaysia was both disappointing and a nice surprise. From a landscape and cultural perspective, it didn’t bring me much but I think it’s because I have been to almost every single country of South-East Asia. So nothing new, did I think at first glance.
But still, everything new to me, in the way people respect each other. Malaysia (as well as Singapore) is a mix of many different cultures but communities seem to cope very well one with each other. On the same bench in the metro, you can see a local of Chinese origin wearing a microscopic short, next to a Muslim with a chador. And you do not feel any tension, or disrespect, in between the two of them. They don’t care and this is great. We are far from having reached that point in France…

Australia, that for sure. I could do exactly the same trip, in the same locations and youth hostels, one more time: Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef, Townsville and Magnetic Island, Airlie Beach and the Whitsundays, Hervey Bay and Fraser Island… Byron Bay, Brisbane, Sydney… I could even live in Sydney.

All of them. I’ll remember many backpackers from Australia. And I’ll never forget the guy you brought me around the Issyk-Kul Lake, and Dilbar, from Almaty, who brought me to her place and spent two days with me driving me here and there. She wants to visit Paris, I hope I’ll have time to be as generous as she’s been…

I’ve travelled a lot by train over the last ten months. Almost 15 000 kilometers…
The distance I’ve done through planes seems impressive, but this is mainly because none of my flight form one country to another was a direct flight. For budget reasons, I was often taking two or three planes to reach a new destination…

Without Lillian around, though, I was mainly having breakfasts.
Above, together with my Turkish Coffee, I am enjoying a Sahlav (pronounce sarrlav).
It is made from hot salep cream, served with coconut, nuts and cinnamon – You might remember salep from a trip to Istanbul, where they are sold in the streets in the winter time.
Sahlav – meaning “orchid” in Hebrew and Arabic – is a thick Middle Eastern milk-based pudding that is drunk as the weather begins to get cold. Sahlav originally appeared in the Middle East during the Roman era. The original recipe calls for ground up orchid bulbs, which are used to thicken up the pudding. However, a more common approach to creating this drink is to use corn flour.
Part pudding, part drink- sahlav is sweet, comforting and believed to be an aphrodisiac… Let’s see…

And this is another breakfast dish : Malawach.
Malawash looks like a thick pancake and it consists of thin layers of puff pastry brushed with oil and cooked flat in a frying pan. It is traditionnally served with a crushed or grated tomato dip, hard boiled eggs and skhug (a condiment made of hot peppers, coriand, garlic).
This fried bread that is a staple of the Yemenite Jews, and through their immigration of to Israel, it has become a favorite comfort food for Israelis of all backgrounds and national origins.
A bread similar to malawach is also known as paratha in Indian cuisine.

Another dish offered for breakfast : Shakshouka. A dish of eggs poached in a sauce of tomatoes, chili peppers and onions, often spiced with cumin. It is believed to have a Tunisian origin.

But should you prefer junk food, don’t worry, there are Mc Donalds in Israel as well !

Dead Sea shore. Lillian has finally decided to drink some water… Good, because the surroundings are quite hostile !

And it looks like some didn’t make it ! Let’s give it a try, how do we float in there ???

Salt is very corrosive, of course, so we didn’t stay in there for long. But we had fun !!!

The Dead Sea is the deepest hypersaline in the world. With 34.2% salinity, it is also one of the world’s saltiest bodies of water, though Lake Vanda in Antartica (35%), Lake Assal in Djibouti (34.8%), Lagoon Garabogazkol in Casien Sea (35%) and some hypersaline ponds and lakes of the Dry Valleys in Antartica (44%) have reported higher salinities.

It is 9.6 times as salty as the ocean.This salinity makes for a harsh environment in which animals cannot flourish, hence its name.

It was one of the world’s first health resorts (for Herod)… Let’s see how the local mud feels like…

Five minutes to spread, one hour to get rid of it, it is high time to leave… But we will certainly not regret the mountains reflection on the sea, the salty waters evaporation giving to the local light a peculiar vibrancy…